Convenience outlet for canopies



April 25, 1933. p. E, BURNS 1,905,341

CONVENIENCE OUTLET FOR cANorIEs Filed Jan, l1, 1928 /L-ii- Patented Apr. 25, 1933 Ul'rsn srA'rss E. BURNS, 0F SYRACUSE, NEVI YORK, ASSIGNOR TO PASS 8c SEYMOUR, INC., 0F.

PATE-fr Arica SYlt/ACLTSIE,V NEW YORK, A CORPOBATON OF NEW' YORK A CONVENIENCE OUTLET FOR CANOPES Application led January 11, 1928. Serial No. 246,048.

This invention relates to convenience outlets and more particularly to convenience outlets for use with fixture canopies formed of moulded insulating material.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved type of convenience outlet for use with canopies formed of `mouldedinsulating material such as porcelain or the like.

One of the features ofthe invention consists in attaching the various parts of the Vconvenience outlet to the canopy without securing any metal partsin the insulation parts by moulding or the like and without unduly complicating the moulding operation.

Another feature of the invention consists in arranging the contacts in recesses in the back of the canopy and covering these contacts with a block of insulating material held against displacement by engagement with parts on the canopy.

A further feature of the invention consists in the arrangement of the attachment plug blade openings and of overhanging interlocking portions on the canopy in such positions that the moulding operation results in the formation of these openings and the under sides of the overhanging portions by the use of single easily withdrawable cores.

Other and further features and objects of the invention resulting in simplicity of form and ease of manufacture will be apparent to those skilled inthe art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawing and following specification, wherein is disclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention, with the understanding however that various changes may be made therein such as fallV on line 5-5 Vticularly is this true when it is not desirable to have the fastening means show on the front of the canopy. rials as porcelain do not readily permity of the insertion yof metal parts during the moulding, which parts can be threaded t0 receive screws or other fastening means. Hence the present invention has for its ob- Iqect not only the elimination of visible fastening means from the front side of the cannpy, but the provision of a meansfor attachmg convenience outlet parts without the use of such visible fastening means.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the invention is disclosed by way of eX- ample, in combination with a side wall bracket having an extremely shallow, sub-y the flange 11 is widened as shown at 12 andV there is an upward projection above this Such moulded matewidened portion forming a platform 13 eX- tending above the rear surface of the main portion of the canopy. From the front ofy the canopy a pair of spaced, plug-blade open-v ings 14 extend through to the back of the canopy and are adapted to receive thevblades of the conventional attachment plug, and are for this purpose properly spaced and sized to receive such blades.

In order to provide contactmeans to connect with the plug blades, a recess 15 is provided at the rear end of each opening 14, and these recessesare shaped to accommodate not only the contact springs 16, but the ends of CII their terminal wires 17, and the stop washers 18 that serve to assist in retaining the contacts in position. In general configuration the recesses 15 are rectangular, being enlarged at 19 and 20. rlhe openings 14 enter substantially the longitudinal centers of the recesses 15, so that the-ends of the bottom walls of the recesses 15 serve as supports for thelower edges of the contact springs 16. The depth of these recesses is substantially equivalent to the width of the Contact springs. Each contact member is of spring metal, bowed longitudinally as shown in Fig. 2 and provided on its front or forwardly projecting edge at the center thereof with a guide tab 21 bent in the direction of the plane of the ends of the bowed portion. Each guide tab is given room for movement in the widened portion 22 of the opening 14, since it projects forwardly of the normal front edge of the 4contact spring and hence out of the recess 15.

The outer surface of the lower portion of the platform 13 is bounded at the sides by portions 23 of the flange 11, which. are just spaced apart the distance between the outer sides of the openings 14. The parts 23 are connected together at the bottom by part 24 so that there is in effect a three sided recess above the platform formed between the parts 23, 23 and 24 and the back and top of this recess are open. This recess or pocket is adapted to be filled by a block of insulating material which has a portion protruding out over the platform beyond the recess. purpose of this block of insulating material is to 'completely cover the conducting parts of the contact springs and to retain them in position mechanically. The block of insulating material 25 is `generally T-shaped, with the head 26 of the T covering the portions kof the contacts and parts of their terminal wires which are out beyond the flange portions 23, whereas the leg or center member 27 of the T fills up the recess formed by the parts 23, 23, 24 and rests over the recesses 15 to retain the contacts therein. The under surface of the leg 27 is provided with a pair of notches 29 forming extensions of the openings 14, when the block is in position, to accommodate any portions of the plug blades which may pass by the Contact springs. ltwill be seen from Fig. 5 that the contact blades pass on the outer sides of the contact springs and tend to reduce the amount of bow of these springs by pushing them toward each other, thus not placing any undue strain on the separating wall 30r kbetween them since the pressures against this wall are balanced. Of course any attempted movement of the contacts out of their recesses is prevented by the bottom surface of block 25.

To retain this block in position so that it is readily removable, a pair of overhanging lugs or lingers 32 project toward each other, over the recess, from parts 23 of the canopy rEheV flange. These lugs are best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. The center portion or leg 27 of the insulation block 25 has its outer edges reentrant as shown at 33, so as to easily pass beneath these lugs 32 when the block is slid into position with its lower surface sliding on the surface of the platform 13. The center leg enters the recess formed by the parts 23, 24, and is prevented from moving too far in the downward direction, as shown in Fig. 1, by engagement of the T-head with the parts 23 and the end of the center leg with the part 24. This engagement and that of the reentrant surfaces of the center leg with the overhanging lugs 32 is normally suflicient t0 retain the block in position, since any strain on the same resulting from inserting the attachment plug is a direct thrust against the lugs and there is no reason Vwhy the block.

should be urged out of the recess.

To insure that the block 25 always remains in position, and particularly while being shipped when it is not mounted in a vertical position, means are provided to engage both the block and the canopy structure to retain the bleek` in position. Conveniently this means comprises a simple screw and nut. The screw 34 is adapted to pass through the hole 35 inthe center of the leg 27 of the insulat-. Y

ing block and the head ofthe screw may be received fin a counter-sunk recess 36 on the outer face of the block. The bottom of the hole 35 is enlarged as at 37 and is preferably non-circular to accommodate the correspondingly shaped nut 33,which is thus prevented from rotation in the hole. The nut is threaded to receive theishank of the screw 39. The length of the screw is such that when it is fully screwed into position the inner end projects beyond the bottom face of the block 25 as shown at 40 in Fig. 3 and is adapted to be received in a hole or recess 41 in the upper face of the platform 13 of the canopy, which recess may be considered as a continuation of the hole in the block when the same is positioned in its recess. rlhe engagement of the inner end of the screw with the walls of the recess 41 prevents any sliding of the block out of the recess so that it cannot become disengaged from the lugs 32 and is thus retained in position against movement in the directionV of thel sliding movement Vof the block to position it in its recess. Movement Vdirectly away from the canopy under the action of the insertion of an attachment plug is ioo of manufacture result from the above arrangement of parts. The core blades which form the openings 14 are of such a length that their ends form the bottom walls 44 of the overhanging lugs 32. Corresponding blades entering from the back of the canopy may form the inner walls 45 of the lugs and will continue down to form the widened portions 22 of the plug blade openings 14 so that both of these sets of blades serve a double function and it is not necessary to provide any collapsible cores or similar structures for the moulding of the canopy. The convenience of this will be appreciated when the small size of the parts is understood.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Let-ters Patent is:

l. In a wall bracket, in combination, a canopy of moulded insulating material, slots in said canopy to receive attachment plug blades, a recess in the rear face of said canopy for each one of said slots, a contact freely rcsting in each recess, a block of insulating material covering said recesses and a portion of said canopy overlying said block for the purpose described.

2. In an electric fixture, in combination, a canopy of moulded material, said canopy having a slot to receive a blade of an attachment plug, said slot being enlarged into a Contact holding recess at the back of said canopy, a contact loose in said recess, a block adapted to cover said recess and retain said contact in position therein and means integral with said canopy engaging the side of said block opposite the contact.

3. In an electric fixture, in combination, a canopy of moulded material, said canopy having a slot to receive the blade of an attachment plug, said slot being enlarged into a contact receiving recess at the back oi said canopy, a contact loose in said recess, a block adapted to cover said recess and to retain said contact in position, means on said canopy engaging said blocl to prevent movement thereof except in one direction and means on said block adapted to engage 'said canopy to prevent movement of said block in that direction.

4. In an electric fixture, in combination, a canopy of moulded material having a slot from front to backthereof to receive an attachment plug blade, said slot being enlarged near the back of said canopy to receive and hold a contact spring, a contact spring loose in said enlargement, a block of insulation covering the enlargement of said slot and retaining said contact in position, cooperating surfaces on said block and canopy structure to hold said block in position against movement in all but one plane, said block having a hole therethrough at an angle to said plane, said canopy having an extension of said hole and a fastening means in the hole in said block and adapted to be projected into the hole in said canopy.

5. A separable joint for use between parts formed of rangible material comprising a part having a groove, a second part having a portion adapted to it in said groove and interlock against movement at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said groove, one of said parts having a hole therethrough at sub'- stantially right angles to said axis, a non-circular enlargement at the end of said hole adjacent said other part, a nut fitting in said enlargement and prevented from rotation by engaging the walls thereof, a screw passing through said hole and engaged in said nut, said other part having a depression adapted to receive the end of said screw when projected beyond said nut to prevent relative j movement of said parts in the direction of said axis.

6. A separable joint for use between parts formed of frangible material comprising a part having aV groove, a second part having a portion adapted to iit in said groove and interlock against movement at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said groove, one of said parts having a hole therethrough at substantially right angles to said axis, an enlargement at the end of said hole adjacent said other part, a nut in said enlargement, a screw passing through said hole and engaged in said nut, said other part having a depression adapted to receive the end of said screw when projected beyond said nut to prevent relative movement of said parts in the direction of'said axis.

7. In an electric xture, in combination, a canopy having a portion of insulating material, said portion having a slot to receive the blade of an attachment plug', a block adapted to close one end of said slot, a recess at that end of said slot, a contact vspring held in said recess by said block and adapted to cooperate with said blade, and means on said portion to overhang said block to prevent movement of the block in the direction of insertion of saidblade.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiix my signature.

PETER E. BURNS. 

